[UPDATE, Tuesday Aug. 8] Sources tell The Baltimore Banner that Kevin Brown is scheduled to return to the broadcast booth on Friday when the Orioles face the Mariners in Seattle.

Kevin Brown will be returning soon, according to the Orioles.

Brown, the primary play-by-play commentator for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network since 2022, has been off television and radio for a little over the past week, and the absence became noticeable to a fan base that has become used to Brown’s voice narrating the Orioles’ American League East-leading season.

But a senior Orioles official said Brown will return to the airwaves soon.

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“We don’t comment on employment decisions, however, Kevin Brown will be back with us in the near future,” the official told The Baltimore Banner.

Brown last took part in a radio broadcast during the series against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 24, 25 and 26. With the exclusion of two nationally televised games on July 29 and July 30, Brown has missed eight games since that radio appearance.

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A source with knowledge of the situation said Brown was removed from the air after he made factual comments about the Orioles’ record in past seasons against the Tampa Bay Rays. The comments were accompanied by an on-air graphic and the fact was also included in Baltimore’s game notes, which are crafted each day by the team’s public information staff.

“The Orioles have won more games against them this season than the last two combined,” Brown said on-air ahead of the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 23. The game notes read: “The Orioles have won three of the first five games at The Trop this season after winning three of the 21 games played in St. Petersburg from 2020-22.”

A report from Awful Announcing, a website that covers sports media, first linked Brown’s absence to his factual comment.

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Brown declined an interview request.

Another source familiar with the network’s discussions said the individual schedules of a rotating cast of personalities was taken into account. There have been 22 different versions of the MASN broadcast team since the beginning of the year — if you include the pre- and post-game shows, as well as MASN’s television broadcast of the game.

That source said it was a content decision, and that scheduling decisions are fluid.

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There have been multiple changes to the MASN product this season. The network has introduced broadcasts from the center field deck on certain evenings. They have added former Orioles pitcher Brad Brach to an analyst team that still features Ben McDonald and Jim Palmer.

The absence of Brown has drawn ire from around the league, including Mets announcer Gary Cohen. On Monday’s broadcast, Cohen said the organization “draped yourself in humiliation when you fired Jon Miller [in 1996]. And you’re doing it again. And if you don’t want Kevin Brown, there are 29 other teams who do.”

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Miller’s contract was not renewed after Peter Angelos said he was too critical of the team.

Brown began calling games for the Orioles on television and radio in 2019 and took over the lead role last season. He also does work for ESPN, including college football and a Statcast broadcast of the Home Run Derby last month on ESPN 2.

andy.kostka@thebaltimorebanner.com

Andy Kostka

andy.kostka@thebaltimorebanner.com

Andy Kostka

Andy Kostka is an Orioles beat writer for The Baltimore Banner. He previously covered the Orioles for The Baltimore Sun. Kostka graduated from the University of Maryland and grew up in Rockville.

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